I'm obviously not speaking for dang (or for anyone who flagged the thread) but a successful assassination is on a different level to an attempted assassination.

I'm obviously not speaking for dang (or for anyone who flagged the thread) but a successful assassination is on a different level to an attempted assassination. I think younger people are mostly all aware of the assassination of JFK in 1963 but probably lots are not aware that there was an attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981 (which also came close to succeeding; closer even than this recent event). That's because the attempted assassination of Reagan had far less contemporary and historical impact than the successful assassination of JFK. If the attempt on Trump's life had been successful a thread probably would stay up (my guess only). That's because there would have been HN on-topic things for us all to consider after such an event, including possible further crackdowns on internet privacy, further restrictions on free movement, free speech, etc.